total_moviesfandomcom-20200215-history
Santa Claus: The Movie
Santa Claus: The Movie (known on-screen as simply Santa Claus) is a 1985 British/American Christmas film starring David Huddleston, Dudley Moore and John Lithgow. It is the last major fantasy film produced by the Paris-based father-and-son production team of Alexander and Ilya Salkind. The film was directed by Jeannot Szwarc and released in North America on November 27, 1985, by TriStar Pictures. The 2005 DVD release was released by Anchor Bay Entertainment, now known as Starz Home Entertainment, under license from the film's current owner, StudioCanal; however, the current, 25th Anniversary home video release (which also now includes Blu-ray) is by Lionsgate Home Entertainment, again under StudioCanal's license. Santa Claus: The Movie is a straightforward attempt to explore the mysteries of Santa Claus with the key objective being to answer some of the basic questions many children have about the Santa Claus mythos, such as how Santa's reindeer fly, how he and his wife made it to the North Pole, how Santa ascends chimneys, among other things. The film chronicles the origins of Santa Claus (David Huddleston), who, along with his wife Anya (Judy Cornwell), goes from being a simple working man to becoming an international icon of Christmas. At the same time, the film also tells a contemporary story in which one of Santa's elves (alternately referred to as the "Vendequm" onscreen), a visionary named Patch (Dudley Moore), sets out to employ Santa's toymaking methods on his own, unaware that he might be ruining the magic of Christmas in the process. Plot Somewhere in the 14th century, Claus is a peasant woodcutter in his mid-50s who, with his wife Anya, delivers his gifts to the children of a certain village. One night, Claus, Anya and their two reindeer, Donner and Blitzen, are rescued from certain death in a blizzard, only to be transported to the vast "ice mountains, way up at the top of the world." Their expected arrival is heralded with the appearance of several elves, or as Claus's people call them in their legends, the Vendegums, led by the venerable and wise elf named Dooley. Inside the elves' home, Claus and Anya also meet inventive elf Patch, and the more down-to-earth Puffy. Dooley tells Claus it is his destiny to deliver toys to the children of the world every Christmas Eve, which the elves will make in their large workshops. Donner and Blitzen are joined by six other reindeer and fed magic food that allows them to fly. When Christmas Eve comes, Claus is approached by the oldest of elves, the Ancient One, who renames him as "Santa Claus". Centuries pass as the mythology of Santa is created, until the 20th century, where Santa is exhausted by the continuous workload he must do every year due to the world's increasing population. Anya suggests he enlist an assistant, to which Patch and Puffy compete to earn via a competition to produce the most toys in a limited amount of time. Patch uses a machine he has invented, and although he wins, it begins to produce shoddy works without his knowledge. During his annual deliveries, Santa befriends a homeless 10-year-old orphan boy named Joe in New York City and takes him for a flight around the skyscrapers of Manhattan in his sleigh. Santa lets Joe take the reins, who flies the sleigh underneath the Brooklyn Bridge much to Santa's horror, who then playfully gets his own back on Joe by having his reindeer perform the "Super Duper Looper", around the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center - an aerial trick that involves them doing a complete 360 degree turn, but Donner always fails due to acrophobia. Santa takes Joe on his deliveries where they meet nine-year-old Cornelia, a wealthy child and also an orphan who fed Joe one previous night. On Christmas Day, Patch's toys begin to fall apart, prompting him to quit his job and let Puffy take over. Traveling to New York, Patch meets B.Z., Cornelia's step-uncle and a scheming executive of a toy company that faces a total shutdown by Congressional investigation due to unsafe products. Believing B.Z.'s toys are popular due to witnessing several being removed from a shop window, Patch decides to help B.Z. make better toys, using some of the reindeer feed to create lollipops which can make people fly and giving then to children for free (the latter fact causing B.Z. to sputter and yell, "FOR FREEEEE?!"). Patch also constructs a hovercraft called the Patchmobile to deliver the products like Santa and helps create a new holiday on March 25, which B.Z. deems "Christmas 2". Santa disapproves of Patch's actions and feels disheartened about continuing his job if the children of the world do not care anymore. Meanwhile, Patch is disturbed when B.Z. plans to turn himself into the face of Christmas, and asks Patch to develop candy canes which enable flight. While Patch works at night, B.Z.'s assistant, Dr. Eric Towzer, appears at his house and reveals the candy canes will explode if exposed to heat. B.Z. proposes they flee to Brazil and let Patch take the fall for their criminal neglect. Joe and Cornelia eavesdrop on the conversation, but Joe is caught and locked up in the basement of B.Z.'s factory. Patch finds Joe and discovers Santa made a carving for Joe that resembles him. Thrilled that Santa remembers him, Patch and Joe set off in the Patchmobile to the North Pole. Cornelia sets a letter to Santa informing him of the situation and he arrives and picks her up. Santa and Cornelia pursue the Patchmobile, which is carrying a huge supply of candy canes on the verge of exploding. Santa convinces his reindeer to perform the Super Duper Looper in order to catch Patch and Joe as the Patchmobile explodes. Meanwhile, B.Z.'s crimes are uncovered when Cornelia calls the police. To evade arrest, B.Z. eats several candy canes and tries to fly out of his office window only to fly up into the sky. The film ends with the inhabitants of the North Pole celebrating the triumph with a joyous dance party, where Cornelia and Joe have been adopted by Santa, his wife and his elves, whilst B.Z., in spite of his pleas for help, floats off into the depths of space having doomed himself, among the equally-affected remains of the Patchmobile as the end credits roll. Cast *Dudley Moore as Patch, a creative, inventive elf whose passion for and faith in the 20th Century is put to the test throughout the story. *John Lithgow as B.Z., the main antagonist - an unscrupulous toy manufacturer who uses Patch in a larger scheme to take over Christmas. *David Huddleston as Santa Claus, the Christmas figure who delivers presents to every child in the world on Christmas Eve. *Judy Cornwell as Anya Claus, Santa's caring and supportive wife. *Burgess Meredith as the Ancient One, the oldest and wisest of the elves. *Jeffrey Kramer as Dr. Eric Towzer, B.Z.'s head of Research & Development. *Christian Fitzpatrick as Joe, a homeless 10-year-old orphan boy living on the hard streets of New York who befriends Santa and becomes Cornelia's best friend and conscience. *Carrie Kei Heim as Cornelia, B.Z.'s 9-year-old step-niece and orphan, who becomes Joe's conscience and best friend. *John Barrard as Dooley, Santa's #2 at the North Pole. *Anthony O'Donnell as Puffy, a bearded elf whose methodicalness foils against Patch's more radical progressiveness. *Melvyn Hayes as Goober, head of the Sewing Department. *Don Estelle as Groot, the elves' Senior Chef. *Tim Stern as Boog, first of Patch's three best friends. *Peter O'Farrell as Honka, second of Patch's three best friends. *Christopher Ryan as Vout, third of Patch's three best friends. *Keith Hayden as an Elf. External links * Category:Films Category:1985 release Category:Fantasy Films Category:Dudley Moore films Category:John Lithgow films Category:David Huddleston films Category:Judy Cornwell films Category:Burgess Meredith films